As night fell upon the city of Ghithyan, the festival put itself to rest. Having filled up on nothing more than carnival food, the occasional dessert, and the general atmosphere of the city, we entered the darkness of the nighttime with a near-empty stomach. The many taverns within Ghithyan provided solutions for such a situation—after all, of the many necessities for survival, food was certainly one that must be accommodated for. That was why, when looking at their receipt—

Ann: "40 Gold for all of this?!"

A feast for five, famished and exhausted—yes, in all honesty it should have been expected that we would have to pay for such a thing. 

Waitress: "I'm very sorry, but does it not seem fair?"

Steven: "Really, I don't think it's the amount. Did you even read the menu properly? There was a whole page dedicated to free meals!"

Necessities can only extend so far, even when dealing with food. It wasn't as if the items in the "free section" of the menu were subpar—far from it, actually—it was simply a fact that Ann and I had ordered something hard to get, and therefore, something that costs more than a smile and a thanks. 

Jessie: "A slab of steak, spaghetti and meatballs, a poke bowl—and then..."

Connie: "—Chicken dumplings with miso soup, and bean and cheese pupusas...Yeah, I can see how those are harder to make."

John: "I was just going with what sounded good!"

Ann: "I guess I did tell him to pick whatever he wanted..."

Steven: "Well, it isn't as if we'll be short on money for long."

The reason we had stopped in Ghithyan was for the express purpose of awaiting our next "orders", which would dictate the course of whatever mission the Freelancers had taken on prior to finding me. It seemed as if they had several jobs lined up in such a way that when one task was finished, the journey to the next would begin after a few days of breaktime. With that, they would never be short on money, likely no matter how much they frivolously spent in each town. 

Jessie: "But, between the photos, the food, housing for our carriage, and likely costs for the mission..."

Connie: "That's not even mentioning Ann's little souvenir she picked up."

Ann: "What? No, no, no, this didn't cost anything."

Steven: "You stole it?!"

Ann hoisted a small cassette tape and player high enough for everyone to see, and, with an expressive smile befitting her Human age, she started with a, "It's not stolen, you dummy!"

Ann: "I mean, yeah, it's not exactly a necessity, but the family at the stand were pretty generous when I showed how much I wanted it."

Steven: "They didn't just hand it off for free though, right?"

Ann: "Nope! They're foreigners from Asia's Barrier, so I figured, since we'll be going there soon anyway, I'd just offer a free gig to them when we visit! Kind of like a makeshift IOU!"

John: "Why would we be going to Asia, though? That's a whole continent away!"

Jessie: "To be honest, we don't have any jobs in that Barrier lined up just yet. However, it's a fact that Connie's mother resides in its Continental Hub, Tokyo, so we had been planning to make our way back east overtime."

John: "Woah, really? You're from Asia?!"

Connie: "I thought that was pretty obvious...Even if my eyes didn't give it away, you didn't raise a brow at my clothes?"

Connie lightly tugged at the floral pink kimono she had been wearing since we met. Truth be told, it wasn't the kind of garb I was used to seeing in Europe, but then again, I held very few expectations for what I would find within the Great Barriers. A unique outfit I had never seen before—that wasn't the strangest thing I had prepared myself to see.

Connie: "It's a little torn at the knees, for mobility, but this is something that my mother says is very important to our culture. I've tried to remember a few key phrases as well, and some ghost stories she used to tell me at night."

John: "All of that...I can't really say my family did anything like it."

Ann: "Culture from the Old World isn't something that's easy to come across, that's why. Whatever your family hails from, I'm sure that there's some bits and pieces still clinging onto other families, but..."

Jessie: "There's no guarantee that every piece of history survived."

John: "..."

Another compromise for the "peace" that the Monsters indirectly bestowed upon us. What little of our past is left behind in the world is nothing more than the scraps of what it should have been. In its stead, an entirely new world was created, with a unified culture surrounding integrity, cooperation, and irrational trust in people you will never meet. A flimsy system built on the hope that everyone you meet is fighting for the same side as you are.

—A flimsy system that has persisted for over six-hundred years.

Connie: "Anyway—my mother knows far more about the Old World than any of us would. There's a library in Tokyo, built for the express purpose of holding all of the scriptures of the Old World. We should go there, when we visit. It might be nice."

???: "A library in Tokyo? Ah, I think I remember it, actually."

—A flimsy system, which could be broken by the hands of a single traitor.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

This is going to hard for you, isn't it? Recalling such a man.

...It's nothing I can't handle. He's a sore spot in my memories, that's for sure, but...

You don't actually hate him anymore, do you?

How could I?

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

There, staring through the crowd of the inn with a horrific smile across his face, was a man. A man with blue hair, fair and wrinkled skin, with dark blue irises and a stone mask along the right side of his face. His overdramatic sleek black coat and gloves, with the combo of black military boots, gave a clear impression of the kind of person this man was.

—Though excessive in his presentation, he was, without a doubt, a Monster to mankind.

Man: "Ah, that's right. I went there, long ago, with Lust. She needed something from me...just what was it..."

Though wariness spread throughout the room, it was the patience and calmness of everyone involved that kept the situation from escalating. All twenty-five people present within the inn, five of which were staff, were clearly aware of the danger the man would pose if he were to continue—and yet, everyone sat still, frozen, keeping only their dominant hands poised on whichever weapon they considered to be theirs. 

One wrong movement, from either side, would spell doom.

Man: "Yep, I remember now—"

The man forced another wrinkled smile—to be clear, it wasn't that he was elderly, nor close to it. If I were to give an estimation based off of my knowledge at the time, the man looked to be in his fifties, but the energy he carried with him seemed to boast of an even younger age. Whether that was due to some kind of magic, or if he really was just that charismatic of a person, was unclear at the time. 

Man: "—A guide to the Underworld, that's it! Say, you all—the louder ones—you wouldn't happen to know anything about it, would you?"

Connie: "The underworld...?"

Jessie: "We've got no business with you, so leave!"

Man: "Yeesh, it was a question! Though, something tells me...you're full of shit."

The man took a few steps forward, slowly, not incurring the sudden wrath of the people he slowly put behind him as he stepped further into the inn. His smile began to drop, and his eyes sharpened, and with a cautious movement of his right hand, he slid the stone mask over his face, leaving only his eyes in view to continue glaring down at us. He stopped just a few feet in front of Jessie, who was holding the front of the table's defenses.

Man: "All that have ever perished, have experienced the pain of the Underworld. All Spectres, all Phantoms, all Mylings, all Kuchisake-Onnas—anything that has died and come back, knows it."

He took a small glance at each of us, before finally pointing a finger at both Ann and myself.

Man: "White pupils...that's it. That's why you're full of shit. Get it now?"

Jessie: "You will leave at once, or face the strength of Humanity as you fall to the ground."

At Jessie's raised posture, the screeching of tables within the tavern took over the atmosphere of the room, and then quickly died down as everyone finished standing, their weapons drawn. Even the three waitresses of the inn, and the two cooks in the back, who all had no affiliation to the situation, began to slow pull out cleavers and daggers, staring deeply into the man's movements.

—This display, in this moment, is what the culmination of six-hundred years of despair and desperate fighting have brought. A unity among Humans, and the trust to take on any that opposes such a thing.

And yet—

Man: "Sit."

Something flickered in his eyes as he issued the command, and instantaneously, the entire tavern took a seat right where they stood. Whether that was back in a chair, or to sit onto the cold hardwood floor, he didn't seem to mind. The only that mattered to him was the absolute obedience to his command, at which no one could refuse.

Ann: "What are you—"

Man: "Silence." 

With another command, the ability to speak had been taken from us. Even our breathing, as harsh and violent as it should be, seemed to quiet down at his request.

Man: "I think it's only fair that I introduce myself, no?"

Taking a small bow in front of the crowd eyeing him from all around, the man calmly and kindly stated his name for all to hear.

Man: "My name is Damien Acosta, affiliate to—ah, well, that's all in the past, isn't it? And what might you be, sweetheart?"

The man—Damien—turned his gaze over to Ann, and with a flicker of his eyes, the "silence" command had become lifted. Still unable to move, she was faced with only one choice.

Ann: "My name is Ann Lei—"

Damien: "I said what, do I need to make myself clearer?"

Jessie: "Don't you talk to her like—"

Damien: "Silence, blondie."

Another command—but targeted? It's the work of a Rune, no doubt about it, but...how?

No magic circles, no real vocal or mobile casting techniques—just simple commands that come true, as if being granted infinite wishes.

Damien: "Now, let's try that again. What are you? Answer honestly, now."

Ann: "I...A Spectre. Eight years, now."

Damien: "Perfect! Was that so hard?"

Ann: "What exactly is it that you want?"

Damien: "Well, you see, I've been tasked with one simple thing—to find and capture the Spectre of Europe's Great Barrier. That'd be an easy task in and of itself, but they wanted a specific thing attached to that Spectre. I believe they called it...oh, yeah, recency."

Ann: "Recency? I don't think eight years is the kind of recency you're looking for."

Damien: "I think it's plenty recent, actually. Considering they also wanted one tied to the genocide of Jerudia, one with access to a Rune—"

Ann: "A Rune? You've got it—"

Damien: "Mistaken? Nah, I don't think so. Ann, you said? Ann "Lei—", right? Yeah, I believe there was a family of Leiders in Jerudia at the time...considering the only confirmed Spectre of that family seems to be you, yeah, I'd say you've got access to a Rune. Not sure which one though. Don't really care, either!"

Ann: "I'm gonna—!"

Damien: "Silence. That'll be enough out of you."

John: "—Kill you!"

Damien: "—!"

Ah, there it is again—that sudden force to act. Where does it come from? 

Somehow free from the immobilization command, my body once more moved on its own, though its purpose was all too similar to what I already sought. So, working with what was being commanded to me by something that I actually trusted, I threw my right hand forward and carved a Moonlight Rune into the space ahead of my palm. With the singular thought of "Precision", the Rune glowed, and—

Damien: "Shatter."